The price of convenience and why I hate grocery stores
>> Tuesday, February 8, 2011 –
food
I was having a conversation with a friend at work a couple weeks ago and she complimented me on how hard I try to buy organic and/or local food. Which was kind of interesting, considering I still buy these kinds of food.
They are my weakness....
You've got some Velveeta shells and cheese that go great with some fish sticks...that's comfort food for me. There's some yummy pudding and jello. Have you ever heard of someone who craves jello? When I worked in the hospital I was always hungry for jello, since I could always smell it.
I could have taken a picture of some oreos....but I already ate them.
Missing from this picture would be a bag of McDonalds, some Amigos and maybe a little Sonic cheeseburger.
You see, as hard as I try to buy local/organic food, sometimes I fall completely off the wagon. And when I fall, I fall hard. Most of the time I do a really good job of making a meal plan and sticking with the list. And then there are times when I'm busier that I just buy willy nilly and end up with a bunch of the above pictured food. And it doesn't make me happy.... How am I supposed to put my money where my mouth is and support local/organic food when I keep buying this crap? That's something I struggle with every time I grocery shop.
Why do I hate grocery stores? Because they're fake! All that illusion of choice when the food comes from 4-5 major companies. Maybe I'm just too used to shopping at Open Harvest but I think the lights in a grocery store are also blinding. And the advertising...don't even get me started on all the false advertising. And since when does America need a whole aisle dedicated just for cookies, cakes and chips? Last time I checked America is only getting fatter.
Sometime else I struggle with is when I'm craving McDonalds. Talk about disgusting food...CAFO hamburger with its GM sides of french fries and a small Coke...blech. And yet I still continue to crave it! I should give myself a little credit, because there are some very smart researchers who make this food as addicting as possible. I don't know anyone else who plays mind games with themselves while eating fast food. Take yesterday for instance, the whole time I was eating a free meal of Chipotle I was thinking about confinement hogs and why they are serving pico de gallo in the winter. Sometimes I wish I was completely ignorant to anything food related and did what everyone else does...and just freaking ate the Chipotle burrito already!
If there's one thing I've learned over the years is that I am NOT perfect. As much as I would like there not to be crappy food choices, there always will be. And sometimes I'm going to fall for them. I just have to keep myself focused on my goal of producing local/organic food so that everyone else can have better food choices. And food rant officially over... Read more...
